Thoughts, Tips, Ideas and Tricks to live your best life

This weekend was a good weekend, but also a giant alarm that my body was screaming at me. While I'm not a doctor, and for any medical issues you should consult your doctor, or two, or three... I'd like to bring up the gluten free subject. Its a controversial topic, some people flaunt that they are gluten free, often if there is someone in the group that is gluten free that limits the restaurant options, these people can even be embarrassing about it. Some people say the whole gluten free topic is a whole lot of BS, and there are some people that are seriously allergic (celiac disease).

Now that you know I'm just sharing my opinion, and can't be held accountable for any medical advice. I very strongly believe that almost every ailment can be eliminated and most definitely feel some relief by cutting out gluten. I am speaking from personal experience, and seeing the dramatic benefit in my mom, and when my closest friend decided to see what would happen if she stopped eating gluten if she would still get migraines. Her migraines dramatically decreased!!!!!

Gluten causes inflammation in the body. How that inflammation shows up in your body will be different from the person standing next to you. One person may be Celiac, where as the next will have no reaction at all. Most of us are some variation between the two extremes. For the majority of us that are somewhere on that middle ground eating gluten free can cure a much larger list of ailments than I can possibly describe here. It can end headaches, arthritis, relieve period symptoms, give you clearer skin, improve your teeth and gums, make your stomach problems, or IBS problems go away, oh yeah you'll definitely loose weight too... These I've seen happen in myself or someone close to me - BUT I've also heard it can help with ADHD, and diabetes. I know these are very bold statements, but if eating a certain way could cure any of your ailments would you at least give it a try?

The way to truly tell if you are sensitive/allergic or not is to cut it out completely for a solid month. I would also encourage you to keep a food / mood journal. Record what you eat and how you are feeling throughout the day. At the end of the 30 days eat whatever you want. Eat how you used to. If you want to have a pasta night, beer & pizza, or a delicious gluten rich dessert, go for it! Enjoy! BUT also notice how you feel for the next couple days, record it and compare it to your notes. You may or may not like what you learn about yourself.

I used to have very bad stomach problems, it would feel like someone punched me in the stomach, and it would happen out of no where. The pain was so bad that I couldn't breath. I would carry tums in all of my bags because I never knew when it was going to hit. I knew that I was on the way to developing IBS, and as far as I knew there was no cure. I also used to get headaches a lot, sometimes they would last for a couple days. And I used to have very bad acne. I would like to share that my process of becoming gluten free was not all at once, it was over a 5 year period, and I would still sometimes cheat; I'd have a beer or a slice of pizza or a donut every once in a while. After this weekend I'll think twice before 'cheating'... I got carried away and had a little bit too much gluten. But my brother was in town and I wanted to hang out with him, and go to where he wanted to go... Bars usually have a very limited gluten free selection...

I guess my sensitivity has increased because this time after the first beer I got a headache. And then I realized, wow, I haven't had a headache in a REALLY long time... "That sucks! I really can't have gluten!"

Sometimes its fun to just enjoy the food, and not worry about what it will do to you, but what do you really want? Do you want to enjoy that beer/cake/pizza/donut? Or would you like to feel good? In my case I want to feel good. So when I put two and two together, I enjoyed that Guinness as I said good bye to beer.

Going gluten free, or even testing it out for a month may seem like an overwhelming or even depressing idea, but there are lots of solutions. When I go out to eat I always push for Thai, Japanese, or Mexican - a majority of the menu is gluten free. For my drinkers, wine, vodka, gin, and tequila are gluten free. If you are cooking at home, rice, potatoes, and corn (tortilla chips) are naturally gluten free. Obviously salad is a fantastic alternative, just hold the croutons if you are doing the test month ;) I do go out to eat a lot, and I can almost always find something on the menu that is gluten free, or easy to modify. If you are celiac that is a bigger challenge. You can have wonderful intimate dinners at home! You will actually save money by eating gluten free in the long run, especially if you eat mostly at home. Its just the gluten free carb alternatives that are expensive. Over time you will crave less, and your health will improve both of these will lead to some serious financial benefit - oh yeah, I never get sick anymore. Now that I am gluten free I don't miss it. I love that I don't need to take medications, and I can eat as much as I want, eating A LOT more vegetables is something nobody needs to be concerned with :) ​I'll share more gluten free recipes on here, so stay tuned. I'd love to hear how your gluten free challenge went! Post your results, experiences, struggles and solutions on here!